Conan O’Brien has finally reflected on the deaths of his friends Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner, who were known to have attended an annual Christmas party in Los Angeles the night before the Dec. 14, 2025, murders.
“It’s really terrible,” he told The New Yorker in a newly published interview.
“And I think about how Rob felt about what was going on in this country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there. And for that voice to be silenced in an instant, it’s still hard for me to understand.”
He also reflected on his relationship with the director couple of the iconic “Princess Bride.”
“I knew Rob and Michelle, but then I started getting closer and closer to them and seeing them often,” he said.
“My wife and I used to see them a lot, and they were really nice people, and I had the experience of saying goodnight to someone and leaving and realizing the next day they were gone. …I think I was in shock for quite a while after that.”
Rob and Michelle’s daughter Romy found the couple stabbed to death in their home on December 14th. Rob was 78 years old and Michelle was 70.
At the time, it was revealed that their deaths occurred after an altercation with his son Nick at O’Brien’s holiday party the night before.
Nick, 32, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstances of multiple murders.
The aspiring director could be sentenced to up to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was on medication. But the drug had the effect of making him “crazy.” Nick also has a long history of drug addiction.
Nick was scheduled to be arraigned last month. However, his lawyer, renowned criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson, quit the case just before the January 7 court hearing. Arraignment was adjourned to Monday.
Jackson later spoke about why he dropped the lawsuit.
“This was a confidential communication between a number of people and I’m not going to make it public,” he told Billy Bush during an appearance on the Hot Mic podcast in January.
When Bush asked if it had anything to do with money, Jackson replied, “I can’t say there was anything to do with the retainers, because I never said that.”
“Obviously something happened to my ability to continue to represent and the team’s ability, but I don’t want you or the viewers or anyone else to start speculating about what that is,” he added. “I haven’t said a word about it.”
“When it’s over, it’s over. We’re out,” Jackson continued.
